btw if youre young and scared of doing adult things without your parents ive learned that like 90% of the time you can just tell the doctors office or the dmv “haha sorry ive never done this without help before… can you show me how to do this?” the employee will not care. if that means anything to you
been thinking a lot lately about the existence of Sisko’s Creole Kitchen and what it means for 24th century Earth.
because on one hand, narratively, it’s an important piece of establishing the character of Benjamin Sisko - it tells us where he comes from and what kind of family raised him. the family restaurant situates him in a particular historical and cultural context by showing us that the Creole food he cooks on the station is something he and his son quite literally inherited and is part of a continuation of Creole culture in New Orleans centuries ahead of the here and now. it is the antithesis of Star Trek’s usual watered-down and whitewashed approach to various Earth cultures, where established characters of color are stripped of their culture in order to fit into the homogeneous Human.jpg box Star Trek likes to put its human characters in to contrast with the aliens of the week - all under the guise of equality. textbook allegorical storytelling. what sets Sisko apart from this tendency is that he is not just a Starfleet captain who happens to be Black, he is explicitly written as a Black American captain whose identity and family history is deeply rooted in the legacy of his ancestors. on this hand, Sisko’s Creole Kitchen is a vessel of cultural preservation.
and on a sort of different hand, Sisko’s Creole Kitchen is a very clear example of community-based food sovereignty on a post-capitalist Earth. on this Earth, Joseph serves his patrons without any expectation of compensation for his and his kitchen staff’s labor, which means that he’s likely not paying for anything that allows him to keep running the restaurant. might seem a bit contrary to the whole concept of a restaurant, but that’s what i’m trying to get at, here.
in a future where every starship and probably most homes are equipped with replicators that can create pretty much anything for you, farms and restaurants and even the act of cooking might seem a bit redundant. so why continue those traditions at all?
well, the concept of a restaurant in the world of today is, essentially, to eat a meal that you don’t have to prepare for yourself, as well as for chefs to share cultural ties through food and creativity with others. it’s both a time-saver for consumers and a platform for culinary art. but it also commodifies food, the act of cultivating it, the act of consuming it and the act of making it.
in a post-scarcity society, where, presumably, no one is required to work long hours at the expense of their physical and mental health just to keep a roof over their head, everyone should, in theory, have enough time to put as much effort as they choose into preparing their own food. of course, cooking is not everybody’s particular love or strong suit, so the appeal of restaurants as access to good, fresh food remains.
the fact that Sisko’s even exists is indicative of, once again, the act of cultural preservationand also of the necessity of establishments that feed their surrounding communities through a labor of love. the best reason to cook is because you love doing it and Joseph clearly values culinary artistry and the cultivation of fresh ingredients, so he must not only be supporting those who come to his restaurant but also those who fish, rear livestock, grow produce and those who help prepare them to be served. in this way, his restaurant could be a very direct system by which he keeps other foodways alive. and, again, presumably - because none of this is based on a system of currency or capital and food is not a product but a facet of the community - it’s plausible and, in fact, necessary that all of this is done on the terms of those involved. so on that hand, Sisko’s Creole Kitchen is a cornerstone of food sovereignty on 24th century Earth.
crazy how every time a female character gets cliche misogynistic writing we have to explain to people again that fictional characters are not real and do not choose things for themselves.
This is a staunchly pro-bug zone. I may have contentious relationships with the ones that enjoy eating me or my food but that’s life baby. The great web…
“Wow, I absolutely despise the care they put into making the story rewarding for players to get invested in. The way it made me care about the characters ruined everything.”
-The guy Nintendo is perpetually dreading when making Zelda and Mario games, for some reason
Mario Galaxy: Here’s a nice bit of atmosphere and contemplativeness. Just a touch of it, and a little bit of backstory.
Fans: wow. this game is something special.
Nintendo: Okay wait hang on. No. Sorry. We’re so, so sorry. For Galaxy 2 we’re not making that mistake again.
Breath of the Wild: Here’s a bunch of worldbuilding we’re doing. Some hints towards past games. A whole new world to explore!
Fans: Wow, we’re so interested in how this new take on the story can develop. There are so many interesting plot threads to make use of in a sequel!
Nintendo: Woah hey now. We have listened and learned. To address this concern, here’s what we’re doing: Tears of the Kingdom is a sequel where nobody acts like the previous game happened.
If you see the quote “I refuse to share my body with a man who wouldn’t defend it politically” or any variation of it floating around the internet — it was Kat Blaque who originally said it and she would really appreciate it if people gave her proper credit for it but it’s gone viral on a lot of different platforms and most of the people sharing it don’t know it’s from her or choose not to credit her on purpose.
Like I just know terfs are going to be parroting it pretending it wasn’t said by a black trans woman about herself & her life.
